The invention relates generally to welding power supplies, and, more particularly, to constant voltage welding process power supplies.
Welding is a process that has become increasingly ubiquitous in various industries and applications. While such processes may be automated in certain contexts, a large number of applications continue to exist for manual welding operations, which often rely on the use of control loops to regulate the welding process. For instance, many constant voltage (CV) welding processes rely on standard CV control loops to regulate processes that use self shielded flux cored wires. While such control loops may work well for many of these wires, they are less effective for other wires (e.g., wires with large diameters or significant nickel content). Furthermore, such standard control loops may be insufficient in applications that require long secondary leads to be attached to the output of the welding power supply, such as construction zones containing large mechanical or structural steel assemblies. Accordingly, there exists a need for improved control loops suitable for use with a variety of wire sizes and industrial applications.